Santa Anita is in uncharted waters

With three consecutive days of racing lost because of drainage problems and repairs to the troubled synthetic track proving unsuccessful, Santa Anita officials are considering temporarily replacing the racing surface with a traditional dirt track.

Ron Charles, Santa Anita president, confirmed that possibility Monday, adding that any decision probably won’t be made until today or Wednesday.

“We hope to at that time provide more details, as we would like to first discuss them with and get approval from the horsemen,” he said after Monday’s eight-race card was called off early in the day.

Charles added that if the decision is made to go back to a dirt track until the end of the winter meet April 20, the number of lost days for its installation would be minimal. And then a new synthetic track, by a different manufacturer, would be installed next summer.

The last three racing days were lost because of the ongoing drainage problem with Santa Anita’s synthetic Cushion Track, installed last summer at a cost of nearly $11 million. The track became unusable when pelted with the recent heavy rains.

Never before in the 71-year history of the Santa Anita winter meet had three successive race days been canceled because of rain.

At the root of Santa Anita’s Cushion Track problem is a fine sand, or silt, put into the seven-inch top layer, which also consists of a coarser sand, fibers, wax, recycled rubber and other ingredients. Also contributing to the problem is a wax that has a higher melting point than the wax used in the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park. That wax and the silt were used for the Santa Anita track because of fears that higher temperatures in the San Gabriel Valley would make the surface too soft in the afternoon sun.

A three-week renovation last month that cost nearly $1 million did little to relieve the track’s drainage problem, nor did the addition of an additive last Thursday and Friday.

Charles acknowledged that Santa Anita also took a financial hit with the three lost race days. A source estimated the loss of net revenue to the track at more than $500,000.

Many track employees also lost work days, and Charles said negotiations with the various unions will take place in hopes of settling the issue of lost wages.

Richard Shapiro, chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, has called a special teleconference meeting for today to discuss the possibility of allowing Santa Anita to move races to Hollywood Park if necessary.

Shapiro said his concern was to try to ensure that racing in Southern California will continue without further interruptions.

“We want to put a tool in the toolbox for Santa Anita to have the flexibility of moving races to Hollywood Park if they have to,” he said.

Shapiro called it a procedural meeting, explaining that Santa Anita would have to be licensed to conduct races at Hollywood Park.

Asked for a personal opinion about what Santa Anita should do, Shapiro said, “Maybe it would be best for them to switch to Hollywood Park so the track there could be fixed for sure or replaced. But we don’t get to tell them what to do.”

As for Santa Anita going back to a dirt track, Shapiro said it would take a separate meeting to grant a waiver to the CHRB synthetic-track mandate.

No racing is scheduled for today or Wednesday. Santa Anita put out a news release Monday saying racing was expected to resume as planned Thursday and entries for Thursday and Friday races were taken Monday morning.

“The weather forecast is very encouraging through the weekend and we’re confident we’ll be able to run on Thursday,” said Mike Harlow, Santa Anita’s director of racing.

“This has obviously been a very difficult period for everyone involved, but we’re looking forward to getting back to business. A lot of people are very anxious to run on the turf, which is in terrific shape, and the [synthetic] main track should be ready by Thursday.”

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larry.stewart@latimes.com